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Halloween night a success for sex offender program

By Robyn McGlohn - bio | email

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - Last year, convicted sex offenders were required to turn out their lights Halloween night.

This year, a new approach was taken.

Probation and parole officers Steve Hopkins and Jeff Purcell say this year's precedent setting event for Alabama was better than they expected.  

For the first time, the state probation and parole office had sex offenders come to them Halloween night.  

"It's probably the most kid oriented holiday," said Hopkins. "It's the one time, groups of children are out in mass."

Instead of possibly having to react, they decided to be proactive.

From 5:00 until 9:00 p.m. Saturday night Madison County Sex offenders and those supervised under Alabama Federal law in Madison, Limestone, Morgan and Lawrence Counties met at an undisclosed location.

Not a single second was wasted. In fact, Hopkins says it was quite informative with presentations about employment opportunities, where to go to get help, and tax credits that are available to employers hiring convicted felons.

"We probably spent the first hour answering questions about anything related to criminal aspects of sex offending," said Hopkins.

What came as a surprise is the level of participation,  57 of the 60 sex offenders required to attend showed.

As for next year and beyond?  Hopkins hope this becomes a state wide event.  

To find out where sex offenders live in your area, click here.

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